I Am Keeping You Safe
by letgolaughing
Summary: Set in New York City Regina was supposed to marry David for love but because David was in a lower social class Cora did not approve. She threatens Regina with David's life and Regina leaves him with no explanation as to why. Years later David finds Regina on her wedding day and he is absolutely furious and Regina is still unable to explain.


**I was prompted with this wonderful oneshot by the wonderful clarissa mills! It was just too angsty for me to leave alone ;)**

**Prompt: Set in New York City Regina was supposed to marry David for love but because David was in a lower social class Cora did not approve. She threatens Regina with David's life and Regina leaves him with no explanation as to why because that was part of the deal with her mother. Years later David finds Regina on her wedding day and he is absolutely furious and Regina is still unable to explain. **

* * *

She sat in front of the mirror staring at herself. Her eyes looked so dull, lacking the life that used to just burn inside them. When did she start to look so tired? So empty? She moved her hand up so her fingertips traced the subtle frown lines around her mouth. When had those lines replaced the ones that had previously shown her smile? She closed her eyes and bowed her slowly shaking head, placing her newly manicured hands down on the table of the vanity.

She knew exactly when it started, she just didn't know when the changes to her appearance had become visible. These years had apparently been a lot harder on her than she had previously thought. She often wondered what David had found for himself. Perhaps he had allowed himself to love again...many of their friends had a bit of a thing for him...

With a long quiet sigh that carried the weight of the world she opened her eyes and looked back in the mirror. She stared at the face that looked back at her for a long time before she spun around in her seat to face him. She wanted to smile, she did, and it wasn't just that her mouth couldn't remember how that lead her not to smile but the anger and disappointment that was obvious in his similarly tired face. She could barely find her voice and she could barely contain her tears and the desire to run straight in to his arms and never leave them again, "David."

He only shook his head at her and tried not to spit the words at her as he read from the newspaper he brought with him, "the beautiful Regina Mills scheduled to wed the gentle billionaire Leopold White on July eighth in the spectacular Plaza Hotel," he ended with his eyebrows raised and stared at the print a moment longer before look back to Regina with an irritated and expectant stare.

She remained silent. She didn't know what to say. She knew what it looked like and it looked bad, it looked horrible but she couldn't explain. It was part of the deal; she had to leave him and keep quiet, give him no proper explanation and he could live and he could live unharmed.

David looked away with an entirely humorless laugh and rolled the newspaper back up in his hands before slamming it down in to the garbage can next to his feet causing her to flinch. "Do you know how much it hurt when you left? How long I have wondered what exactly it was that had you leaving?" He was absolutely furious and just simply heartbroken as he looked at her in her wedding gown, a gown that was not for him, "so," he laughed humorlessly once again, his jaw tight with anger, "imagine my surprise when I catch glimpse of your name in the paper and see that you have hit a gold mine! Is that the reason you left? Because I wasn't _rich_ enough for you?" He rocked his head irritably and smiled tightly, "I didn't have enough _power_ for you? Hmm?"

Regina bowed her head and took a deep breath, "in its simplest form..." She forced herself to look him in the eye and keep her voice steady, "...yes," she nearly broke when he did. He stared at her, nodding with an irritable smile before he suddenly spun and hit the wall hard with his hand. She covered her mouth with her hand after a startled gasp and she closed her eyes to keep the tears from falling.

David shook his head at her in disbelief and a new hatred, his words leaving his tongue with a sharp and furious tone, "I honestly thought you were better than this! That you were a decent human being! I suppose I was just your play thing, an object to keep you _entertained_ while you looked for what _really_ mattered to you. I would have loved you until the day I died you heartless bitch," he spat through a snarl and then stormed from the room, not bothering to slam the door shut behind him.

Regina held her breath until he was out of her sight and when he was she let it out in a choked sob, alternating between holding her breath further and crying in to her hand that still covered her mouth as tears rolled freely down her face. After only a few seconds she got up from her seat and hurried after him, trying to stop herself from crying, "David!" She called but he continued walking furiously ahead of her not even bothering to look back.

So she picked up a run, picking up the skirt of her dress so as not to trip, "David!" She called again only with more demand in her voice. He still didn't turn around and she yelled at him, her own fury and heartbreak leaking in to her voice, "David! You do _not_ get to walk away from me!"

"Right, sorry, that's your thing," he growled as he stopped and turned around to face her with his jaw clenched. Her tears did very little to him, "how long will it take for you to run him dry? How long until you find another one? Perhaps I'll win the lottery, make a few good investments, who knows maybe I'll be your next little scheme!"

"That's not fair!"

"Am I wrong?!" He boomed and leaned forward, looming angrily over top of her and she shrunk down with lips parted and dark brown eyes darting between his blue.

"I-I don't know..."

David scoffed and turned to walk away but she grabbed his arm in a firm grip and turned him back before he could snatch it back and when he did rip his arm from her grasp he was yelling again, "it was all a lie Regina! I trusted you! I loved you! You broke my heart! You made me believe that I could spend the rest of my life with you and then you turned around and left me alone without any explanation! Believe me I am relieved you spared me the years of lies that I would have lived trough if you had stayed! So thank you for that! Thank you for letting me off the hook so that you could play your game with a more valuable piece!"

She had never slapped him before and she had certainly never slapped anyone that hard before. The force of her open palm against his jaw was enough to send him stumbling off to regain his balance with his own hand over his jaw to try and soothe the sting. Slapping him felt like a stab in her heart and she yelled right back, "these are not my words David!" More tears fell from her eyes and rolled down her cheeks to land on the floor. She loved this man so much it hurt, "I am miserable! I don't even remember the last time I smiled or laughed! I do not want this but I _cannot_ walk away!" She wished she could tell him that she left him to save his life. To end their relationship in love and tenderness rather than anger and pain.

He still felt little compassion toward her. He had given her his heart and she tossed it away carelessly when she was done with it leaving him to pick up the pieces on his own. He gave her one last look over before he turned and started walking away. Once again his wrist was caught in her hand and before his rage could get the better of him she kissed him.

Small, soft, familiar hands pulled his face down to her own and her lips caught his in a desperate kiss, a kiss that he could not help but return. He pulled her in by her waist and neck, pushing her head back with the force of his kiss causing her to whimper against him. His chest tingled with a warmth and excitement that only occurred when he kissed her. He missed it so much. He loved her so much. Her mouth opened only so she could close it around his once again as her arms wound tightly around his neck and pulled herself higher.

He deepened the kiss, slipping his tongue past her lips during a momentary break for air and she melted against him, allowing him to taste her and remember her. Her kiss was filled with sorrow and heartbreak, it flowed into him and he felt tears slip past his closed eyes as he pulled her closer and kissed her harder. His heart throbbed in his chest and he was foolish enough to give himself hope. Hope that he was wrong and that perhaps she would chose him after all.

Her tears never stopped falling and she fought hard to keep herself from simply crumbling and wailing in to his chest as he held her tight and comforted her, holding her up until she was able to stand on her own. She tried to memorize it all, every single piece. The way his large rough hand supported her neck as he pushed her head back with another strong movement of his mouth against hers, the way his other hand spread out across her lower back and pressed her body firmly against his allowing the warmth he provided to seep in to her, the way he made her feel safe and treasured and loved, the way his scent filled her senses and made her believe that everything was going to be alright when she already knew it wasn't, the way his short hot breath across her lips and jaw made her heart flutter, the way her knees gave out when he kissed her. She wanted to memorize it all but when you try too hard to memorize something too quickly, nothing gets memorized at all.

When their kiss came to a slow stop she remained pressed against him, his hands hadn't moved but hers had returned to hold either side of his face. Her forehead rested against his, the sides of their noses touching and their lips almost brushing. They stayed still and silent as their heavy breaths skimmed each other's jaw and pressed their bodies closer. She moved her thumbs over his cheeks to wipe away his tears, her breath catching uncomfortably in her throat at the pain she knew he was feeling and the hope for a second chance that she knew he had and she knew she had to take away.

"I love you," she whispered against his mouth as her tears fell faster. Her heart broke all over again at the beginnings of a smile on his mouth and she shook her head gently against his own and softly placed her fingertips over his mouth to keep it from growing any wider. She held her breath as she swallowed her cries but they broke free in a quiet sob and she pushed her forehead hard against his as her shoulders started to shake cruelly and she shook her head faster, "goodbye my love."

She waited a moment longer, waited until his grip around her tightened to keep her from leaving before she ripped herself from it and covered her mouth with one hand to muffle her cries while the other held her stomach as she all but ran away. A louder, hacking sob escaped her mouth and convulsed her body and she had to catch herself from falling to the floor with a hand tightly gripping the door frame of her room when she heard the contents of one of the side tables in the hall crash and shatter against the floor followed by furious footsteps. She felt absolutely sick to her stomach and she stumbled in to her room and back to her seat at the vanity with cries that were so painful they were silent.

She dropped her head on to her arms and cried miserably and uncontrollably, her body shaking viciously and her voice growing hoarse. She wanted to run after him, to take it back and live her life with him and lived it happily and loved. But she couldn't. She could never get away with such a thing. Her mother would never let it.

Her assumption was proved correct when over her cries she heard the steady and even tap of stilettos walk up behind her. She didn't raise her head, she risked the sharp reprimand from her mother for not doing so. She truly couldn't be hurt any further. She was given some sort of solace when her mother didn't say anything right away, only stopped next to her. At the sound of something being placed on the wooden top of the vanity, Regina lifted her head only enough to see what it was. Red lipstick.

With tears streaming down her face she took it in her hands and sat up straight as she dropped her hands limply in her lap, her shoulders still shaking as she looked down at the tube of lipstick laying in her open palms. She closed her eyes tightly and closed her mouth so that her shaky breath left her nose as Cora rested a hand on her shoulder and leaned down a little so she could give her approval.

"Good girl."


End file.
